A chat with our Halloween cover girl, May May Graves
TAMMYE NASH | Managing Editor
Nash@DallasVoice.com
When young May May Graves decided to switch her direction from the church to a more worldly path, she didn’t dilly-dally, and she didn’t hem-and-haw. “I learned how to host gigs by preaching in the Church of Christ before I came out. Once I realized I was in a cult, I shaved my eyebrows and started a punk band,” Graves told Dallas Voice in October 2024.
Her first experience with drag was in the gay bar in her small East Texas town, where she went “dressed in pumps that were too small, bad makeup, cheap red tracks and a plaid skirt,” she recalled. “They called me ‘Raggedy Ann,’ and I figured I’d make drag my profession out of spite.”
Now all these years later, she added then, “I’m still a menace — just prettier.”
This week, Graves took time out of her busy schedule to answer a few questions for Dallas Voice as we once again feature her on our Halloween Issue cover.
Dallas Voice: Let’s start with the most basic questions: How long have you been doing drag and how did you get started? May May Graves: I’ve been doing drag for about 16 years now. I started after I shaved my eyebrows while I was still preaching sermons in the Church of Christ. I figured that it would be more fun to start a punk band and dress like Bowie (although I didn’t know what I was doing; back then, we didn’t have many makeup tutorials or resources for drag makeup).
Around that time, the local drag bar in Longview wasn’t booking me. I was too young anyway. So a friend and I would put on our own drag shows and concerts in hotel rooms. It was tragic.
The theme was “Trashy Victorian meets Punk Rock” — I had the best time.
The moment I finished cosmetology school, I left Longview for Dallas and immediately started working regularly in the burlesque scene, and I ended up making drag, music and producing my full-time career.
I know you have talked about this with Dallas Voice before, but for those who missed it: You have a very distinct drag persona. How did you develop that? Is it “an act” for the stage? How much of non-drag you is expressed in your drag? I was always inspired by women in horror, as well as the monsters. I also was very inspired by women in rock music. Fun fact: I suffer from regular sleep paralysis episodes, which help me write my music and develop my aesthetic. Put all of that in a blender and you get this blue demon from another world… in the ’80s.
One thing one of my mentors told me when I first started is, “You used to be a preacher; why not take that back and put it into your aesthetic?” And at the time, I thought it was too much, as I had just left Christianity. It wasn’t until I was writing my second album that I started incorporating blasphemous imagery and reference into my work.
Hail Satan, I guess!
May May Graves seems made for Halloween. Is Halloween special for you, or is it just another day in the life? I mean, I know a lot of performers look forward to Halloween as an opportunity to show off unique makeup or costuming and do something different. But for you, would “something different” be doing pageant drag? Or is Halloween a chance — a challenge — to take your look even further? When I was in kindergarten the first time (because I was held back; failed nap time), my teacher asked us to draw us celebrating our favorite holiday. I was the only kid in my Christian school who chose Halloween. It has always been my favorite holiday, so many of my favorite memories have been during the season. My birthday also falls on the time that the Halloween stores open up, so I always thought that they were opening for me as a kid.
Halloween is now my busiest season — no rest for the wicked! So I am constantly making a mad dash to push out more content and even bigger concepts to celebrate the season with a theme for all my big looks over the month.
Last year, my theme was clowns, a-la Terrifier; this month I am channeling my inner Maggie Gyllenhaal to become Satan’s Secretary.
What do you have coming up? You have two albums out (Monsters in 2018 and Here Lies May May Graves last year). Any new music coming for your fans to look forward to? What have you not done yet that you want to do? I am currently working (slowly) on a new EP and my third album. But for the next year I want to focus on touring my Here Lies album (since my Monsters album tour was supposed to be in 2020; you can imagine how that went.)
I also have started focusing on my YouTube Channel where I show my music videos as well as critique evangelical Christianity and discuss my own history with the Church of Christ. The channel has really blown up, which is exciting! My audience on YouTube has been nothing but kind, and hearing their own stories in the comments is very therapeutic for me. I guess you can call me Dallas’s SINfluencer!
What have I not asked you about that you want to mention? With my new platform on YouTube, I really want to make a difference in how we interact online. Recently, people have not realized that Turning Point USA has started to replace Charlie Kirk with another, even more sinister rage bait queen named Bryce Crawford. He recently just sent me a voice note because he saw some of my commentary about him. He asked if I would be a guest on his podcast.
Despite the fact that this would catapult me closer to the mainstream, I refuse to be subjected to his sensationalism clickbait editing and to his rabid fans. There are too many people who would say yes to an opportunity like that, and it keeps the cycle moving as we put money into the pockets of these people who continue to divide people further for their political agenda and their monetized clicks and views.
The best we can do is keep moving when we see some man-on-the-street, Temu-Jubilee debate slop.
Engagement and rage is what they want. Do not engage; stay aware, and — for the love of Satan — VOTE!
Happy Halloween!
The man behind the camera
Dallas-based photographer Corey Morrison has a resumé that includes both still photography and videography, and that ranges from photographer to key grip to director of photography — and more. And his credits include work in film, television, commercials and industrials, videos and modeling.
This month Morrison worked with drag performer/singer May May Graves to create Dallas Voice’s 2026 Halloween cover, and this week, Morrison took some time to answer a few questions for Dallas Voice about himself and his work.
— Tammye Nash
Dallas Voice: How long have been involved in photography, and how did you get started? Corey Morrison: I’ve been doing photo and film work for about 15 years now. I’ve been interested in fashion and cinema for as long as I can remember.
Is photography your “day job?” I was a full-time cinematographer and photographer before the pandemic, but since then I’ve only been able to do it part-time. I’d like to return to doing it full-time though.
Do you have a specialty in photography? Do you focus on portraits or do you do other kinds of photography, too? I think my photography style tends to be dark, cinematic and generally wider-angle. While there’s always an idea going into everything I shoot, it truly starts to take shape once we’re on location. I like shooting a blend of kink and fashion.
Tell us a little about this shoot with May May Graves. Did you have a specific vision in mind going into it? How did you come up with the theme for it? May approached me with this theme citing Steven Shainberg’s 2002 erotic-comedy Secretary. I wanted to help her achieve a darker version of that. Shooting it in the Dallas Voice office was the cherry on top.
How can people get in touch with you to schedule a shoot? And what did I not ask about that you want to mention? If you’re looking to shoot, you can find me on Instagram at @coreymorrisonyo! Also if any readers are interested in trying a new sport, I’m the head-coach and co-founder of Dallas Sumo Club. All ages, genders and skill-levels welcome!